FEEDING PRINCIPLES 43 
cases it is not so; There have been, and there will 
no doubt be again, summers in which it was 
necessary, to feed the bees all through on account 
of the utter wretchedness of the weather, which 
quite precluded any, honey gathering. It must 
be noted that during the breeding season the 
amount of food consumed by, a strong stock is 
enormous, and a few days of rain may bring it 
to the verge of starvation; in fact, inattention 
has killed thousands of stocks before now in bad 
years. The bee-keeper must make sure that there 
is always a supply of food in the hive if through 
adverse climatic conditions the’ bees are unable 
to gather a daily supply. It is quite easy for 
bees to be starved to death with thousands of 
acres of clover in bloom around them. Therefore 
when there is no food in the hive, feed, and feed 
until the bees can bring some in. 
Now regarding the method of carrying out 
feeding we will take autumn feeding first again. 
When the supers are taken off in July, if there 
is no other late source from which a honey flow 
may, be expected, it is a good plan to feed gently 
about a quart of syrup weekly to each stock, until 
the beginning of September. This will induce the 
queen to continue breeding later, and ensure the 
colony going into winter quarters with a strong 
force of young bees, which are a most valuable 
asset in wintering safely. The food should be 
given them through one hole only, of a graduated 
bottle feeder. The feeder consists of a bottle 
